


Danganronpa: Royal Flush

by bornfromanxietea



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe, Fan Killing Game (Dangan Ronpa), Gen, Murder Mystery, Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s), POV Original Character, Post-Apocalypse, Suspense, Teenagers, Trapped
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-15
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 04:54:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 17,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27568615
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bornfromanxietea/pseuds/bornfromanxietea
Summary: In this post-apocalyptic killing game, based off of the popular series Danganronpa, fourteen teenagers must work together to uncover their true enemies and escape from the mysterious individual calling all the shots.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 1





	1. Welcome to the End

**Author's Note:**

> This story is largely based off of the series, Danganronpa. I loved every aspect of the games as well as the anime. The characters here are original, but the same murderous fun and mystery are still there. This will be posted in multiple parts as I finish. Also, you are reading from the perspective of the main character, therefore I left them genderless to better insert yourself into the story. Enjoy.
> 
> Trigger Warning: Death, violence.

* * *

In this world, there are no rules. Except for three. Respect the crown. Do your job. And never go out alone. Those three rules have kept us safe from the world outside. At least for the most part.

The world went to shit about forty-five years ago. A nuclear blast hit our country and we were all sent underground. The radiation killed off everyone who was left above ground, and the ones who survived had to fend for themselves. It was basically a living hell.

They managed to sustain themselves by building underground tunnel systems and algae farms to survive for a while. But that wasn’t enough. Eventually, they had to go outside. We call it, “the zone”. It turns out that the air was survivable, or so they thought.

For the next twenty years, they lived life in the zone and underground. They frequented trips to the zone to try and search for any sort of food source or resources that they lacked below ground. And surprisingly there was plenty of it. Enough for them to feel comfortable enough to repopulate. And voilá, we were born. However things got worse. 

People started getting sick. Our parents got sick. Basically, everyone who wasn’t us ended up dead. They told us that we survived because we were born in this fucked up world, and somehow our bodies built up a tolerance to the radiation. So I guess you could say we’re immune. But that doesn’t stop us from living underground. It’s all we’ve ever known. It’s dangerous out there in the zone. And I’m perfectly happy right where I am. 

My name is Six. I am seventeen years old. I live in a small underground bunker with ten other kids like me. We kinda have a system here. 

There were fourteen of us. We were the only kids left. They put us in school for a little while, until there weren’t any teachers left to teach us. At that point, we had to start fending for ourselves. Luckily, it wasn’t just our ABC’s that we learned down here. We were taught to survive.

We all range from about ages fifteen to nineteen. However, someone had to be a leader since there aren’t any adults around anymore. So we chose five of them to be ‘the crown’.

The rest of us are just the town. We do our jobs, we do what we’re told, and we don’t have any problems. It’s not all bad though. We like to get together at night and hangout, even the crown joins us. 

We all sat around the common room one particular night, drinking and laughing. We listened to the low hum of the record player echo around the room. This has been our ‘normal’ for almost twenty years. 

I take a swig from the almost empty cup in my hands. All of a sudden, the deafening high pitched sound of the overhead speakers sounded throughout the room. I covered my ears in pain until the sound subsided. It must be Thirteen trying to make an announcement. I didn’t know that the speakers in this old bunker still worked. I paused and waited for an announcement. None came.

I glanced around the room, searching for Thirteen. I didn’t see him here, so he must be in his office. But why hasn’t he said anything yet?

The shrieking of the speaker sounded once again, this time followed by a low distorted voice that sent a chill down my spine.

“Hello? Hello, hello? Testing. Good. Hello everyone. And welcome to the end.”

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a short first chapter to give some background. Story starts to heat up next chapter.


	2. Run

* * *

I have never heard anything like this before. I tried to control my breathing as I strained my ears, attempting to listen to the rest of the message over everyone’s confused muttering.

“...and I know it’s short notice. But I have a surprise for all of you. You see these bracelets?” 

Myself, and everyone else in the room, look down towards our wrists. The digital watches we all have had for as long as we can remember glowed before our eyes.

“These are embedded with a little instruction. From this point on, until I say otherwise, you are to follow this instruction. No exceptions.” 

Fourteen tiny beeps were heard in succession around the room, I assume it was the sound of our watches activating. I look down to read mine.

_Any physical contact with Thirteen._

The voice continued, “If you do any of these actions, you will die.”

An rupture of panicked voices filled the room at once. Everyone got up from their seats and stepped away from those around them, in fear. What kind of sick and twisted game is this? He can’t be serious, can he?

“But wait, there’s more. For double the money, I’ve created a little killing game. If someone isn’t killed by one of you in the next fourteen hours, I will just kill you all,” the voice chuckles to himself. “Did I mention I can activate a death code in your bracelets with the touch of a button? Well, have fun!” the voice says quickly before cutting off the receiver.

Soft whimpering can be heard from behind me. I turn around to see Fourteen sitting with her knees to her chest and tears streaming down her face. Fourteen is also called Jo. She is what you’d call a loose cannon. She’s the youngest of our group, making her childish energy radiate throughout the group. It makes being stuck underground way more entertaining. Jo is always wearing bright colors and tags around the other leaders, probably annoying them. A sharp pain shoots through my heart seeing her cry like this. I kneel down next to her and place my hand on her shoulder. 

I look back at my bracelet, and once again the time is the only thing that glows. It’s exactly six o’clock in the afternoon. I stand up and take one more glance around the room. Where is Thirteen, anyway?

“This is ridiculous!” a girl yells from the other side of the room. It’s Twelve. She is our Queen. She is really straightforward in nature, and really knows how to push your buttons. However, she is very strategic and resourceful. She wears a blue turtleneck and fishnet leggings under her jean shorts, as kind of an edgy look. “Who the hell is doing all this? Where’s Thirteen?” she questions angrily.

“I’m right here,” says Thirteen, calmly as he walks into the room, a large box in his hands. Thirteen is our leader, the King. He is really intimidating. He always has this hood covering his shoulder length blonde hair and a piercing gaze on his face. However, when his hands aren’t in his pockets, he usually has a guitar in his hands. When you get to know him, you can tell he has your best interest at heart.

“Where have you been? Did you hear that announcement?” Twelve asks him while running to his side. 

“Yeah. I was the first to find out,” Thirteen responds. “I got this anonymous text on my phone that said to pick up this box from the storage room. I need to distribute one of these to each of you.”

Everyone gathered around at the words of our King. He handed the box to One, who looked eager to preoccupy his mind with something other than our looming fate. One likes to go by Ace. Ace is what you’d call your stereotypical jock. He’s really into boxing and always tries to spar with someone in the group. He is pretty narcissistic sometimes, but everyone would trust him with their life. He’s really reliable, and has a booming personality. He is almost as loud as his trademark red sneakers. 

When it was my turn, I walked over to Ace to retrieve the contents of the box. He handed me what looks like a tablet of some sort. 

“What is this thing?” I ask him.

“Power it on. It says it's called an ‘E-Handbook’ or something. It pretty much has profiles on all of us.”

I follow Ace’s directions and turn on the power. The screen glows and unlocks at the sight of my face.

“Oh yeah! Apparently you can only unlock your own handbook,” Ace offers with a curious look on his face. 

I look to the top of the open home screen and find an app downloaded with an image of a file on it. I click the app and it boots up. My name shows up at the top of the screen, along with a small updated image of me that I don’t remember taking. 

Ace begins, “See and if you click here, you can look at everyone else’s profiles.” He clicks on the documents button and points to the list of all of our names. “Look, here’s mine.”

The E-Handbook reads:

> One (Ace)- Face of War: The right hand man to Thirteen. _No one can escape death, not even a king._
> 
>   * Attributes:
> 

> 
> Personality: Trustworthy, Egotistical, Intelligent
> 
> Favorite color: Red
> 
> Favorite food: Hot dogs
> 
> Age: 17
> 
> Height: 5’11
> 
> Skills: Hand to hand combat, Math
> 
> Special notes: Jealousy

“How do they know all this stuff about you? Even down to your favorite food,” I inquire curiously.

“Well they got one thing wrong,” Ace offers with a scoff. “I’m not jealous of anyone.” 

I thank Ace for his help with setting up my E-Handbook and head off towards the rest of the group. Everyone seems preoccupied with gathering information about our new situation. I walk over to Eight and Eleven, who are standing off to the side of the room. 

“How are you guys feeling about all this?” I ask them. 

“I’m pretty fucked up to be honest,” Eight replies with a shaky voice. She is clutching her E-Handbook tightly to her chest. “Are they really going to kill us?”

Eight is a timid girl who doesn’t have a bad bone in her body. She typically spends her time in the garden, growing vegetables for us. She wears a plain white t-shirt, dark blue jeans, and a head of bright red hair. She always tends to be the mediator in any internal conflicts in the group. I can understand why she is so upset.

“Or worse, make us kill.” Eleven chimes in, blatantly.

Jack is what we call Eleven. He’s kinda just really good at everything. He is always trying to learn something new, which usually benefits our group in one way or another. However, he is really brooding and likes to be alone. He’s really tall and wears all black, giving him a dangerous look, but he’s actually really nice.

“Don’t worry. I’m not gonna let that happen,” I say as calmly as I can, though I can feel my own breath becoming shaky the more I think about it. “We just have to leave. They can’t control us from outside. We are the only ones who can survive out there, right?”

Eight nods at my words and gives me a slight smile. She decides to go get a drink to calm her nerves. I take this opportunity to speak to Jack about what he thinks.

“What do you think is really going on here?” I ask him.

“I can’t really say,” he says, cooly. “But I do know that this is no joke.”

He points to the underside of his bracelet and nods at the plate covering the back. He must recognize the type of material it was made of from something he read while trying to learn a new skill.

“This is a special type of watch, made in Tokyo,” he explains. “The craftsmanship is so well done that it has to be made from the Seiko company, who were involved in a lot of shady business about sixty years ago.”

“Fifteen years before the world fell apart,” I say, lost in thought.

“Exactly,” he continues. “I wouldn’t be surprised if they had the technology to kill us all.”

This information doesn’t make me feel any better. Sliding down to the floor, I decide to check out some more of the profiles from the E-Handbook.

> Eleven (Jack)-Face of Opportunity: Eleven is the attendant to Twelve. _The Jack of all trades is the master of none._
> 
>   * Attributes:
> 

> 
> Personality: Reserved, Friendly
> 
> Favorite color: Black
> 
> Favorite food: Chicken Noodle soup
> 
> Age: 18
> 
> Height: 6’1
> 
> Skills: Survival, Medicine, Craftsmanship, Speed, etc.
> 
> Special notes: Wisdom
> 
> Eight -Card of Balance: Eight is a gardener. _Some infinities are larger than other infinities._
> 
>   * Attributes:
> 

> 
> Personality: Shy, Forgiving
> 
> Favorite color: Lime Green
> 
> Favorite food: Quesadillas
> 
> Age: 16
> 
> Height: 5’7
> 
> Skills: Gardening, Whistling
> 
> Special notes: Growth
> 
> Fourteen (Joker/Jo)-Face of Karma: Fourteen is a figurehead for the ‘town’, and the head chef. _The only good luck a great man ever had was being born with the ability to overcome bad luck._
> 
>   * Attributes:
> 

> 
> Personality: Unpredictable, Energetic
> 
> Favorite color: Teal
> 
> Favorite food: Macaroni
> 
> Age: 15
> 
> Height: 5’6
> 
> Skills: Cooking, Lock Picking
> 
> Special notes: Wild

Taking note of their information, I go back to the home page of the files folder. I scan through all the available names to read and see Thirteen. I think back to my forbidden action.

_Any physical contact with Thirteen._

Am I really going to die if I touch Thirteen? It’s not like I would be in that situation anyway, but it’s best to stay cautious just in case. Speaking of Thirteen, wasn’t it very convenient that he was the only one of us to get an anonymous text from the distorted voice? 

I presume it was just because he is our leader, and the man over the intercom knew that. I disregard my negative thoughts and click on Thirteen’s profile. 

“ERROR,” the E-Handbook reads. I refresh the page and try again. “ERROR,” the same message reads. Doubt begins to flood back into my mind. Why can’t I access his profile?

I scan the room and look for Thirteen. He is talking to Twelve on top of the raised platform in the center of the room, where our E-Handbooks got delivered. I get up from my spot next to Jack and head over his way. 

I see his gaze shift as he notices me coming. He silences Twelve as I approach them.

“How can I help you, Six?” he asks.

“I was just wondering if you had a plan to try and stop this guy yet,” I offer, respectfully.

“Of course. The first thing we need to do is lock all the doors.”

My mouth opens in disbelief. “What?”

“Well he can’t get to us if we block ourselves in. We’ll be safer if we all stick together.”

I just cannot accept that. “With all due respect, Thirteen, I really don’t think that’s a good idea. First, we need to evacuate. We can’t just stay here like sitting ducks. Then we need to find a way to get these bracelets off,” I explain with conviction. 

He narrows his eyes, then looks down towards his bracelet, and back towards me. With an even face, he replies, “What a great idea. Why don’t you gather everyone and tell them to start packing up?”

“Oh, I’m sorry Thirteen. I didn’t mean to overstep-” 

“Of course. I’ll do it for you.” He walks to the edge of the podium and beckons everyone over. Once they all are listening intently he states, “Six and I believe that the best thing to do is to head to the zone. We will be safer away from the bunker where he has control. Everyone, start packing up your things. We will be leaving in two hours.”

An uproar started before our eyes. Chatter filled the room.

“Are you serious?” Two asked from the back of the group. She is a thin, brunette girl with a bright yellow sweatshirt on. She has a fiery personality and can make any room light up. She seems to always have a lot of people around her, and loves to capture our good moments with commemorative photos. “We can’t just leave. This is our home. I think we should stay here.”

A few people spoke out in agreement with Two, and others shifted uncomfortably at the decision awaiting them. I look to Thirteen who stands silently, hood covering his eyes. He refuses to say anything to address their concerns. Growing frustrated with his sudden lack of leadership, I step up.

“No. We have to leave. It’s the only way to make sure that the man over the intercom can’t hurt us,” I say to the group firmly. I look over to Thirteen, who stares blankly at me. I roll my eyes and continue. “The plan still stands. Two hours everyone.”

I hear some sighs coming from the crowd, but everyone for the most part seems to reluctantly agree. Is this what it feels like to be a leader?

I release a sigh myself, and turn back to Thirteen, when my eyes fill with horror.

As if in slow motion, I sidestep away, narrowly avoiding a hand belonging to Thirteen from making contact with my shoulder. Panting from the shock, I stand in front of Thirteen with a hand clutched over my chest.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” he says as he retracts his hand. “I just wanted to say thank you. I was kinda tied up back there.”

I finally calm down my breathing, and wave my hand in dismissal. “Oh, don’t worry about it.” What does he mean by ‘tied up’? I literally just did his job for him.

“For the record, I actually do agree with your plan. I guess you really could be a good leader,” Thirteen says with a slight smile. 

I return the favor and step down off the podium. I have to make sure I stay away from him from now on. That was too close of a call.

All of a sudden, I hear yelling coming from down the hall. The sounds are getting closer and I can start to make out what they are saying.

“The exits are blocked and the windows won’t open!” Nine yells as he runs through the doors back into the common room. 

Nine is very introverted and is your typical bore. He collects old videogames that barely run anymore and likes to keep to himself. He wears the cleanest button-up shirt he could find and his round glasses at the end of his nose. He is very philosophical and has earnest conversations with you whenever you are in the mood to have your mind blown. It makes sense that he is so nervous right now, he is a believer in everything.

“What do you mean the doors are locked? Are we stuck in here forever?” Two yells over the commotion.

“We tried to break the windows, too! And the doors have these metal grates over them! It’s like they are airlocks,” Nine explains to the group.

Panic starts to set in, and it is getting harder to control the crowd.

“I can’t do this, I have to get out of here!” someone yells over the volume. I can’t make out their voice. By then, it was too late.

In the next instant, I see Ten sprinting at full speed towards the doors to the common room. He didn’t get very far before his body collapses onto the ground, completely limp. It looks as if he has passed out until we see a flow of crimson oozing from his ears. Upon closer inspection, blood is leaking from every one of his orifices. Ten died within seconds, without us even fully comprehending the situation. 

“Well, well, well!” we hear over the loudspeaker. “It looks like someone didn’t follow directions!” If we weren’t shut up by now, the unknown man’s words did the trick. “I told you what would happen if you disobeyed me. Do you get it now?”

I walk over to Ten’s lifeless body and kneel down next to him. I grab his arm and read the lit up words on the screen around his wrist.

_Running in any room._

* * *


	3. Alive

* * *

“And don’t even try to take the bracelets off, or the same thing will happen to you!” the voice laughed over the intercom. “Time is ticking, you have thirteen hours.” The speaker clicks off.

I stand up from over Ten’s corpse and squeeze my hands into fists. This can’t be happening. What kind of person could kill someone like this? I vow to myself that I will find this bastard if it’s the last thing I do.

At this point there isn’t much we can do as a whole. I volunteered to help move Ten’s body away from the common room, along with Ace and Jack. 

“This is so fucked up,” Ace comments as we hoist Ten’s body above a blue tarp. 

Jack slides the tarp underneath his body and we set him down gently. “I knew this was real, but I didn’t expect anyone to die so soon,” Jack says under his breath.

“You knew about this?” Ace asks with wide eyes. 

“I have some ideas,” Jack says with a whisper. “I want to keep it under wraps until I get some more information.”

“Understood,” I respond, hopeful that we can one day find a way to get out of this mess.

We say our goodbyes to Ten, and close the door to the mortuary. On the walk back, I take notice of all the windows not only being blocked off, but having a strange dark tint to them. Whoever is keeping us locked in here doesn’t want us to see the outside. 

By the time we make it back to the common room, it is already about time for dinner. I look to the left of the entrance and see the faint tint leftover from a failed attempt at cleaning the spot where Ten died. I feel a knot in my stomach. I don’t think I have an appetite.

We all head to the cafeteria and sit around the long rectangular table. Thirteen sits at the head, with Twelve at his right and Ace at his left. Jack is in the seat directly next to Twelve. As soon as Jo finishes in the kitchen, she hands out our meals, and takes her seat directly next to Jack. We all bow our heads and try to eat our meal, as best as we can.

I don’t get very far, before setting down my fork and just staring at my plate in anger. I feel bad that I can’t enjoy the meal that Jo cooked for us, when I know that it must be even harder for her, being that she is the youngest here. I look over to her and see a single tear run down her cheek as she takes a bite of her baked potato. I’m sure she picked this meal for tonight, because it was Ten’s favorite. 

Reluctantly, I finish dinner early and head to my room. I couldn’t sleep, so I decided to read up some more on our group. I open my E-Handbook and select the next few profiles.

> Twelve (Queen)-Face of Logic: Twelve is the co-leader of the group. _She is a queen. Her soul is royalty._
> 
>   * Attributes:
> 

> 
> Personality: Loyal, Organized
> 
> Favorite color: Purple
> 
> Favorite food: Turkey
> 
> Age: 17
> 
> Height: 5’9
> 
> Skills: Strategy, Persuasion
> 
> Special notes: Manipulator

> Nine -Face of Hermit: Nine is the engineer. _We think sometimes that we want to disappear, but all we want is to be found._
> 
>   * Attributes:
> 

> 
> Personality: Introverted, Inquisitive
> 
> Favorite color: Green
> 
> Favorite food: Saltwater taffy
> 
> Age: 19
> 
> Height: 5’11
> 
> Skills: Engineering, Videogames
> 
> Special notes: Isolation
> 
> Two -Card of Patience: Two is a photographer. _The High Priestess may have a glamorous title, but she is not royalty_.
> 
>   * Attributes:
> 

> 
> Personality: Bright, Direct
> 
> Favorite color: Yellow
> 
> Favorite food: Tomato soup
> 
> Age: 19
> 
> Height: 5’8
> 
> Skills: Photography, Sports
> 
> Special notes: Experience

I must have fallen asleep, because I woke up in a pool of sweat, my E-Handbook still opened to the profile I left off on. I turn off the tablet and plug it into the wall while I shower. 

Once I’m all ready to go, I check the time. It’s 8:05am. Panic starts to set in. The time limit that the man over the speaker gave us ended just five minutes ago. There’s no way someone could have been killed by then. How did I manage to oversleep for something this important?

But wait. I’m still alive. If it’s already past the time limit, that means someone must be dead. I have to go check.

I run from room to room, checking to make sure that everyone is safe.

I stop in front of Four’s room, and knock on the door. I wait, fidgeting with my hands until the door opens. A half-asleep Four opens the door with a blanket still around his shoulders. He has on a pair of sweats and flip flops on his feet. 

“What do you want so early in the morning?” he croaks.

“I was just checking on everyone,” I reply with a sigh of relief. “It’s already past our time limit and I wanted to make sure everyone was still alive. It just doesn’t make sense.”

“Yeah, I’m fine man. He was probably just bluffing,” he says with a yawn as he scratches his curly hair. 

Is he serious? There’s no way he still thinks this is some sick prank after witnessing Ten’s death yesterday. 

“Well you should head over to the cafeteria when you fully wake up,” I say evenly. “Once you screw your head on straight, we should have a meeting about this.” I turn around and walk down the hall towards the next room, leaving him standing in confusion.

It’s so annoying that he’s not taking this thing seriously. Four is really oblivious to whatever is going on. He seems to have a pair of rose colored glasses on, that protect him from the mad world that we live in. He has always been this way since we were kids, really gullible. However, he is a very supportive person. Any time you set your mind to do something, he’s always on your side.

I head over to Five’s room and find his door wide open. Cautiously, I peek inside and find no one in there. I walk further towards the back of the room and see a pair of legs sticking out from the door to the closet. He doesn’t appear to be moving.

“Five?” I yell as I run towards the closet. “Are you okay?”

The body on the floor stirs and a head pops up from around the corner. 

“Oh, hey Six.”

I make my way over to him and inspect the area. It looks like he was looking for something on the floor of the closet. Understandable, as it was pretty dark in there. I release the breath I had been holding. 

“Sorry,” I say, relaxing a bit. “I thought you were hurt.”

“Nah, I’m good,” he says with a chuckle. “Did you need anything?”

“I was just making sure everyone is okay,” I reply sheepishly. “What are you looking for?”

“I think I lost my inhaler,” Five says sadly. “I might’ve packed it up yesterday and misplaced it in one of these boxes.”

Five is another one of the younger kids in the group. He wears a little red beanie and a fanny pack that, until now, had his rescue inhaler in it. He is very considerate, and always puts others before himself. He tends to keep the older members of the group grounded. I can’t imagine what our life would be like without him. 

“I see,” I reply. “I hope you find it. It’s kinda important,” I say with a light laugh.

“True,” he smiles back. “I’ll see you at breakfast when I find it.”

I turn and head out of his room. I decide that everyone seems to be fine this morning, and I might be overreacting a little. I head over to the kitchen to get some breakfast. On the way there, I power on my E-Handbook and read a few more entries. 

> Four -Card of Stability: Four is one of the cleaning crew. _When you are the stabilizing force in your own world, the emperor is all you see_.
> 
>   * Attributes:
> 

> 
> Personality: Oblivious, Whimsical
> 
> Favorite color: Orange
> 
> Favorite food: Bread
> 
> Age: 18
> 
> Height: 5’9
> 
> Skills: Knife throwing
> 
> Special notes: Tranquility

  
  


> Five -Card of Unity: Five is one of the cleaning crew. _The fifth element is the ether or the quintessence that instills harmony among others._
> 
>   * Attributes:
> 

> 
> Personality: Selfless
> 
> Favorite color: Red
> 
> Favorite food: Apples and Peanut butter
> 
> Age: 15
> 
> Height: 5’5
> 
> Skills: Senses, Detection
> 
> Special notes: Constant

When I enter the kitchen, I notice Seven on the floor, with his head in the cabinet under the sink. It seems that he was doing some work on the drain.

“Is there something wrong with the sink?”

“Oh yeah. I noticed it was clogged this morning. I never put anything down this drain, so I figured someone accidentally clogged the pipes,” he says, puzzled. “I haven’t gotten anything yet though.”

Seven is a really good handyman. He typically fixes any leaky pipes or clogs for us. But since he’s a plumber, it doesn’t make sense for his own sink to be unusually blocked. He has a hat that he wears backwards, with the logo from his dad’s plumbing business directly in the center. I know he was really proud of his father. He’s the oldest of us, so he remembers his parents the best. I can’t help but admire his dedication to his father’s legacy.

“Okay. Well let me know what you find,” I say as I wave goodbye. 

I grab a slice of toast and head into the cafeteria. Surprisingly, the lights were all off. I reach to my right and flick the switch. I couldn’t stomach the sight in front of me. 

The first thing I notice is that bright yellow sweatshirt. I immediately knew who it was.

* * *


	4. Investigation: 1

* * *

It was Two. Her eyes were wide open, and bloodshot red. From her mouth dribbled an abundance of white foam, all the way down her chin to her collarbone. Her left hand was still clutching onto the spoon, her knuckles white from her death grip. I felt like I was going to be sick.

I stumble backwards and knock over the chair behind me. Hearing the commotion, Seven runs in from the kitchen and stops in his tracks when he sees Two’s body.

“Oh shit,” he says under his breath behind me. 

The overhead speaker’s high pitched screech bounces off the walls. Clutching my ears, I stand up and back away from Two’s lifeless body.

“Well, it looks like a body has been discovered,” the distorted voice says over the intercom. “You guys have been saved, at least for now.”

You could hear the absolute malice in his voice. I couldn’t help but feel a chill run down my spine.

“So here’s how this works. You all will do an investigation of the body and determine who you think killed this person. We will hold our own little trial. If you get it right, I press the big red button and their brains go boom. But if you get it wrong, that person gets immunity! I’ll make sure they escape and live a long, healthy life,” he continues.

What does he mean by immunity? There’s actually a chance to escape? I don’t know if I can investigate my friends like this. I don’t know if I’ll be able to stomach the realization that someone I know is a murderer.

“You have one hour to investigate! You’ll hear from me again soon,” he said before clicking off.

I exchanged a look with Seven as the rest of the group approached the kitchen area. When they walked in the room behind us, a series of gasps and screams filled the air. 

Jo was the one I noticed first. She looked particularly shocked. I know that Two was like a sister to her. She really looked up to her, and I can’t imagine how hard this whole situation must be for a child.

I walk over to Jo and wrap my arms around her fragile body in a strong embrace. She hugs me back tightly, and I can feel her hot tears bleed through my shirt. 

I can hear rustling through the group, and I look over along with Jo towards the parting crowd. Thirteen stands with Twelve at his side, clear disbelief on his face. I can see the quick thinking that a leader needs filling his face. Everyone looks to him for guidance, especially in a time like this, where our lives are at stake.

“Everyone, I know how hard this must be. We have already lost two of our own. But as your King, I have to make sure that no more casualties happen on my watch. As orderly as possible, I want everyone to form investigation groups,” he explains to us. “We need to get to the bottom of this. I won’t allow Two’s killer to roam free.”

We all divide into three separate groups, with four of us in each. I am paired with Twelve, Five, and Ace. That leaves Thirteen, Seven, Nine, and Three in the group that is investigating the kitchen. Jack, Jo, Four, and Eight make up the last group who are looking into Two’s bedroom. My group agrees to start investigating at the scene of the crime. 

We move in close and examine Two’s body. Upon closer inspection, I can tell that she was poisoned. 

“I believe Two was poisoned to death,” I explained to my group. “It’s evident by her foaming mouth and bloodshot eyes.”

“Also, her tight grip on this spoon and lack of any type of defensive position indicates that she was killed instantly,” Ace adds on. “She hadn’t even had a chance to reach for her throat, or to try and spit it out.” 

We look around the table a bit more. I notice the meal she was eating seemed to be some tomato soup. Instinctively, Five sticks his index finger into soup.

“The soup is still kinda warm,” Five says under his breath. “She must have just died recently!” He wipes his finger off with a napkin.

This is an interesting case. How are we supposed to figure out who killed her? Maybe one of the other groups will find out the type of poison that was used, or some other clue that could help us.

“She wasn’t alone,” Twelve says after standing up abruptly. 

The three of us turn towards her in confusion. 

“What do you mean?” I ask quizzically.

“It’s kind of obvious. Look under the table,” she responds back, slightly irritated at our denseness. 

We peek under the table and see an almost negligible smear of red on the ground. It couldn’t be blood, so it must be some tomato soup that spilled. 

“The smudge was caused by someone stepping in the smear. And the bottom of Two’s shoes are completely clear,” Twelve adds, as if it was obvious to check underneath the table in the first place.

“Wow you’re such a genius, Twelve!” Ace says sarcastically while rolling his eyes. “I was about to get there, you just had to give me a few more minutes.”

“Any more time wouldn’t change anything, you already don’t have any brain cells left in that empty head,” Twelve snaps back as she sticks out her tongue. 

The two continue to bicker as I talk a little more to Five. He is very good with his senses, so I’m sure he has something else to add. 

“Hey, Five. Did you notice anything else?” I ask him gently.

“Uh, well I was thinking about this. If the soup is still warm, I’d say it has only been about seven minutes or so since she has been killed, ten minutes tops.”

“And what does that mean?”

“How long ago did you find her?” Five asks me, rather coldly. I hope he doesn’t think that I was the one who poisoned her.

“Oh, if I had to guess, probably around five minutes ago. Why?” I ask, cautiously. 

“Did you see anyone leaving when you came into the kitchen? Or even the cafeteria?”

I thought about it for a second. I only remembered seeing Seven working on the kitchen sink. But it couldn’t have been him. Could it?

“I remember Seven was unclogging the drainage pipes in the kitchen when I walked in. But you don’t think he did it do you?” I ask him honestly.

At this point, Twelve and Ace cease their childish argument and start to listen to our conversation. Something must have peaked their interest.

“I don’t know for sure, we’d have to hear his side of the story. But all I know is that I’m sure the person who killed Two hadn’t left the room before you got here,” Five says with clear confidence shining in his eyes.

My stomach dropped. Do I really have to investigate Seven? I actually believed that he was unclogging the drain in the kitchen. How could he lie to me like this? I furrow my brow in anger.

“Hey, don’t count your chickens before they hatch!” Ace says lightly to try and cheer me up. “We will just ask him if he saw anything. There’s always two sides to every story.” 

Ace is right. I can’t get too far ahead of myself. I still need to figure out what he was really getting out of that drainage pipe. Maybe some new information from the other groups will help to ease my nerves.

I unlock my E-Handbook and flip through the group’s profiles. I land on Seven’s. Curious, I scroll through and read more information about him.

> Seven -Card of Victory: Seven is a plumber or handyman.  _ The chariot ensures your victory, but why must you win so badly? _
> 
>   * Attributes:
> 

> 
> Personality: Determined, Amiable
> 
> Favorite color: Navy blue
> 
> Favorite food: Pasta
> 
> Age: 19
> 
> Height: 6’0
> 
> Skills: Plumbing, Mechanics
> 
> Special notes: Miracle

The investigation was over before I knew it. The distorted voice once again filled the speakers. “Time’s up. I hope you all found what you were looking for. Everyone needs to head to the northeast door of the bunker. I will open up a gate that leads you down an elevator. You will all enter together, and begin the trial.”

We followed instructions and headed to the elevator. The walk there was silent, except for the sounds of our shuffling feet. Nothing could prepare us for what was to come next. The mere thought of unveiling a killer between us is sickening for all of us. A small part of me, though it disgusts me, actually doesn’t want to get to the bottom of this. I’m sorry, Two. 

We all file in the elevator and wait as it carries us down. The ride is rather long. I didn’t know that the bunker had this many floors, though we’ve lived here our whole life.

We finally came to a halt, and the caged doors opened in front of us. We stepped out into a large room decorated with red satin curtains and a circular podium with fourteen platforms. I assume we all are assigned one of these platforms. I notice a large television screen in the center of the room, with a towering view of the whole room. What would we need a television for?

“Welcome to the class trial!” the booming voice radiated through the large room. “Everyone, gather around these platforms in number order. This is where you will discuss the tidbits of the trial.” 

“Where are we?” Three asks to the voice. “Are we even still in the bunker?”

Three is a really sweet girl who has a very calm nature. She never raises her voice, and is a good listener. She’s another one of the group who keeps the balance. She looks intently at the screen, while adjusting the pink bow atop her head of curls. I remember reading her profile in my E-Handbook yesterday. 

> Three - Card of Greed: Three is one of the cleaning crew.  _ It’s the pleasure seekers who take life for granted. _
> 
>   * Attributes:
> 

> 
> Personality: Compassionate, Calm
> 
> Favorite color: Pink
> 
> Favorite food: Sweets
> 
> Age: 16
> 
> Height: 5’6
> 
> Skills: Dancing
> 
> Special notes: Selfish

“Of course, you are in a room of my own creation! And yes, you are still in the bunker,” the distorted voice answers, as the large screen clicks on. "Allow me to introduce myself. You can call me, Tokumei." 

We see a shadowy figure appear on the television, wearing a mask over his face to conceal his identity. This must be live footage. I was under the false impression that the messages from before were all prerecorded, and that they were manually sent through the speaker system. 

“The way this works is simple,” the anonymous man continues. “You all start talking. When I get tired of it, I tell you to cast your vote using the voting selection buttons in front of you. Then the culprit will either be executed in front of us all, or you all fail miserably and I take them somewhere safe,” he explains. “Both options are totally fine with me, as long as they cause you despair,” he speaks mischievously. 

“Sounds easy enough,” Thirteen responds for us, coolly. 

“Great,” Tokumei says with an obvious smile. “Let’s get started then.”

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trial one is about to begin. Who killed Two?


	5. Trial: 1

* * *

After a few awkward glances around the room, we finally found it beneficial to start the trial somewhere.

“So we went through Two’s room and found some interesting things,” Jack leads the discussion. “We noticed that all of her picture frames were turned upside down. We weren’t sure what this meant, but we do have an idea.”

“We think that the culprit had gone through her room, looking for something before they killed her,” Four chimes in. “Maybe they were feeling cold feet and turned the pictures over to try not to get sentimental.”

“I can refute this,” Twelve cuts in. “I happened to check the bracelet on Two’s wrist. It was her forbidden action. She just couldn’t look at any photos, idiot.” 

“Well how was I supposed to know that?” Four responds uncomfortably. 

“We also found a jar of poison,” says Eight. Several shocked gasps escape from around the circle. “It was in her closet behind some of her stuff. The label claims it is a consumable poison,” she adds. “Since it’s not airborne, it must have been added to her food at some point. Maybe this particular poison takes a long time to take effect, and was slipped in at dinner last night-”

“This is wrong too,” Ace cuts her off. “Two died instantly. You could tell by her body language. She was absolutely stiff and wasn’t in a defensive position. Like she never even knew it was happening.” 

Eight looked down at her feet, visibly affected by the interjection. It seems that a lot of information this group received is not completely accurate. 

“We also noticed that her alarm in her room was set to eight o’clock this morning. But it was still beeping once we got to her room. So she must’ve been out of bed before her alarm and already was headed to the cafeteria,” Jo explains. 

“But what made her leave her room so early?” Ace asks from right next to her.

Jack responds to his question earnestly. “We aren’t sure, but she definitely wasn’t alone. She had to have been led there for some reason. Even just to be her final resting place.” 

“I agree with this,” Five chimed in, apprehensively. “Her tomato soup was still warm. And we found a smudge on the floor that didn’t belong to her. She definitely wasn’t alone when she died.” He hesitated for a second, as if deliberating his next words carefully. “And I think her killer was still in the room when we found her.” 

The room erupted in chatter. I guess everyone is in just as much disbelief as I was. 

“Wait, do you mean like a locked room murder?” Nine asks passionately. “The killer doesn’t have enough time to make their escape, so they hide until the body is discovered. Then they come out of their spot and just blend in with the rest of the group,” he explains.

“This is actually a plausible story, considering the timeline,” Seven contemplates to himself on my right. “I remember seeing Six walk into the kitchen before finding the body. And no one else came in or out except for them.” 

“I agree. I made it to the kitchen probably around 8:10 this morning,” I add to his claim. 

“Well what’s stopping it from being one of them?” Three calmly poses the question to the group. “They were the last ones seen with her.” 

“You’re right,” Seven replies. “But I have some more information. I was unclogging the drainage in the kitchen sink this morning, and I found something interesting. A whole clot of tomato soup was stuck in the drain. And I would never intentionally clog a drain, just to end up fixing it myself.”

“Why would tomato soup be stuck in the drain? I thought she was eating the soup already?” Four inquires. 

This question seemed to puzzle all of us. We all stood there in silence, thinking for the most logical explanation. 

“The only conclusion I can come to, is that someone who knows how to cook killed her,” said Ace, under his breath. “Come on guys, think about it. Who is the only one who uses the kitchen?” 

Everyone immediately looks to Jo, who is slowly brimming with tears.

“I swear I didn’t do it! I would never kill Two! I loved her!” Jo yelled frantically. Hot tears started to stream down her face.

I hate to even think that Jo would be capable of something like this. She is so young. But I have to put my personal feelings aside and get to the truth.

“How could Jo do this? You don’t even have a story to back up this theory!” Five exclaims in her defense.

“Well if you think about this logically,” Twelve begins to set the scene, with a level head. “Jo stopped by Two’s room early this morning. She must have seen the picture frames face down, and thought that she was feeling depressed and might have wanted to end her own life. And what’s more perfect of an opportunity to kill someone than someone who wants to die anyway? So she invited Two to the cafeteria this morning for a meal she couldn’t refuse, her favorite dish, tomato soup.” 

Everyone listens intently to Twelve’s narrative. Jo herself seems lost in her story, as if even she believes it. It already seems like the puzzle pieces are fitting together. 

Twelve continues, “You obtain the poison from the storage room, which is conveniently close by the kitchen, and make both of you two servings of the tomato soup. You drop the poison tablet in her serving, and pretend to eat yours. Once she takes her first, and only bite, you rush to get rid of the evidence. Leaving behind a smear of tomato soup on the floor in the process. You quickly throw your serving down the drain and prepare to leave, until you hear the sound of someone coming.”

“That someone must have been me!” shouts Seven in realization.

“Exactly,” Twelve agrees. 

“So your only option was to hide in the kitchen before Seven got there! Maybe in one of the cabinets,” Nine adds on.

Jo is visibly shaken up from the accusation. She looks so pale that she might throw up. 

“This is the only way,” Twelve says matter-of-factly. “It has to be Jo.”

“I-I swear it wasn’t m-me!” Jo stutters in between her cries. She is pleading for us to believe her, but she just doesn’t have a valid case in her favor. I can’t accept this. But what else can I do? 

I scan the room to see how everyone is handling this. It seems like the majority of the group has come to terms with little Jo’s fate. Even Five looks saddened to admit that his best friend was the most probable killer of Two. However, my eyes land on Thirteen. He is quite obviously in visible distress. He stands with his hand curled over his mouth, as if holding back his words. He wants to say something, I know it. Thirteen manages to catch my eye, and gives me a pleading look. I think I understand now. 

“No,” I say aloud, with brimming confidence. His forbidden action.

“What do you mean, ‘no’?” Twelve asks, taken aback.

“I don’t believe this story,” I respond. “There has to be something else missing from the narrative.” 

I look to Thirteen. “Thirteen, don’t you have something you want to say?” I ask him.

He gives me a slight smile, and a nod of approval. “Yes, thank you. There’s one more thing that doesn’t make sense to me,” Thirteen begins. “How did the poison manage to get into Two’s room?”

He glances around the room, looking for a certain response. Everyone seems baffled by the question, and you can tell Tokumei has a look of amusement underneath his mask. Thirteen looks to Twelve. He seems satisfied with the lack of response.

“I was thinking the same thing at first,” Thirteen explains. “The only way it could be found in her room is if Two took it back herself, right? But, what if I told you that the poison was brought to her room and planted there by someone else.”

Once again, murmurs of shock filled the room. This seemed to spark even more questions in everyone’s minds. I am starting to connect the dots now.

Thirteen continues, “Due to the small time frame, the only way the poison could get back to Two’s room is after we all discovered the body and crowded into the room, then dispersed into our groups. Therefore, that leaves only four suspects.”

“Jo, Jack, Four, and Eight,” I finish his thought for him. “These four are the only ones who had access to Two’s room during that time.”

“And out of those four, Jo technically isn’t the only one who deals with food,” Five adds. He seems to understand where we are heading with this, too. I knew this kid was brilliant.

“Eight,” Twelve says, disillusioned. “Do you have something you want to say?”

“W-what? Why do you think it’s me? I wouldn’t kill Two!” Eight retorts back at her.

“You are the only one who could’ve done this,” Jack chimes into the conversation. “You were the one who found the poison.”

“No, I-I saw Jo put it there! I just didn’t say anything,” she tries to explain. “Jo is the one who cooks! She made Two the tomato soup, and she poisoned it.”

“You’re a liar,” Jo says, under her breath. She looks up at Eight, visibly angry.

“You are a gardener, Eight. You have access to all the vegetables and could’ve easily made the soup,” Nine offers, sadly.

“If you really want us to believe it’s not you, show us the bottom of your shoe,” I say to Eight, firmly.

She looks at me, with tears welling up in her soft brown eyes. She uses the palms of her hands to wipe them away, then looks directly to Jo.

“Yeah, I did it. I killed Two. And I’m really, really sorry,” she says, wholeheartedly.

“Why?” Jo replies, clearly too exhausted to shed anymore tears. She was just desperate to know the reason why the closest person to her had to die.

“If I’m being honest, it was to save everyone,” she says sorrowfully. “I know how good of people you all are, and you never would be able to do it. And time was running out fast. I couldn’t bear to think about you all dying, so I thought I had to. I just didn’t know what to do anymore.” 

We took a moment to take in Eight’s words. Although her intention was to save all of us, it just isn’t right that she took a life. Two was a person, just like every one of us. Let alone someone who we grew up with. 

“Do you really have to kill her?” Three asks Tokumei, looking up at the masked man on the screen. 

“Even if he didn’t kill her for this, I don’t know how we could accept Eight in our group after learning what she is capable of,” Thirteen offers honestly. 

Everyone seems to agree with our king, however unwilling they are. 

“I gave you the rules beforehand,” Tokumei says, with no emotion. A door that seemed to be hidden directly underneath the large screen appeared and opened up. “Eight, I need you to step through this door to your execution.”

Eight gave us all one last look. I saw a mix of emotions in her shining eyes. Fear, disgust with herself, sadness, and lastly, a hint of resolve. She stepped off of her podium, and walked through the door as it closed behind her, not once looking back. A fit of laughter could be heard from Tokumei, with obvious animosity.

We thought that was the end of everything. And we'd be sent back out. But the doors to the elevator didn't open back up. We stood in confusion, exchanging glances at one another until the large screen flashed a new scene above our heads. 

Eight was shown walking into a dark room, seemingly bare. She was holding her arms against her chest, and stopped in the center of the screen. Her eyes strained in the dark as she peered directly into the camera lens, that I assume she didn't know was there.

"What the hell is going on here?" Three asks with a skeptical voice.

A blinding light appears on the screen, temporarily blinding us, but soon focuses on Eight. It seems to be an overhead spotlight. Now that I can see her surroundings a little better, she seems to be in some sort of dirt field. Frightened, Eight begins to run through the dirt, the camera and spotlight following her every move. Is she trying to escape?

"You can do this, Eight," I hear Seven say under his breath, beside me. 

All of a sudden, Eight disappears from our view and the spotlight stops moving. Eight has fallen in some kind of hole. 

"Oh shit, is she okay?" Twelve yells out.

As soon as anyone could think to answer her question, two unidentifiable individuals appear on screen with shovels in their hands. Gasps of terror filled the room. What is going on here? They aren't going to do what I think they are, right?

The two figures promptly begin to shovel mounds of dirt into the hole that Eight had fallen into.

"Hey, what are they doing to Eight?" Nine asks, with sheer panic in his voice.

"They're going to bury her alive!" Ace yells as he jumps off his platform and heads to the door that we saw Eight leave through. "Don't just stand there, do something!" he screams at us. 

I jump off my podium and follow Ace to the door, along with Thirteen and Seven, and we pound on it desperately trying to find an opening. Everyone else stood with their eyes glued to the screen, obviously in shock. We pulled, pushed and prodded at the solid metal for what seemed like forever. Failing to open the door, we had no choice but to watch the devastating scene unfold before us. 

The video switched to an overhead perspective at that moment. To my horror, I watched as Eight struggled to climb out of the hole, as more and more dirt piled on top of her. I noticed how one arm seemed to hang, bent in a way that didn't look normal. I just couldn't look away. Eight kept clawing at the dirt wall to get a grip for her hands, but at this point her legs were already buried. There is no way she could pull her own weight from the dirt with one arm. 

Sobbing echoed around the trial grounds. We all watched reluctantly as the last bit of light left from Eight's eyes, once the last bit of dirt was tossed over her face, covering her body completely. 

"A fitting death for a gardener, don't you think?" Tokumei asks, with a smile hidden behind his words.

At this moment, the doors to the elevator slide open, inviting us to leave the trial. No one dares move a muscle. After what felt like an eternity, Thirteen takes the first steps towards the elevator. One by one we follow him in silence, doing all we can to try and forget what had been shown to us, though it is impossible. We huddle in the elevator as it closes behind us and begins its ascension, back to our new lives. This sick killing game is hastily becoming our new reality. We must escape from here, no matter what. And I am going to do everything in my power to make sure that happens.

* * *

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the conclusion of Act 1. This chapter was my favorite to write, because I love the investigation process and when the clues start to click. However, it made me so sad to write this death for Eight because in the long run, she killed for the well-being of the group. But, that's Danganronpa for you. I'll try to write more motives to make things more interesting. Feel free to comment any of your thoughts about the story so far!


	6. Code

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the beginning of Act 2.

* * *

It wasn’t long before we were given our next motive. Only two days had passed since we lost Two and Eight. Tokumei is just as relentless as we thought. We all decided to be more unified as a group to try and prevent something like this from happening again. 

“Listen everyone,” Thirteen starts. “I know this situation is terrible, but we have to weigh out our options. I know Eight felt like she needed to do this, but we can’t turn on each other like this anymore.”

“Well, what do you suggest we do? If we don’t kill anyone, we die,” says Ace, rather angrily.

“What do you suppose we do? Choose someone to sacrifice themselves every time that man tells us to?” adds in Nine.

Thirteen sighs and puts his hand over his face in frustration. Everyone grows agitated with our leader’s lack of response.

“No, I don’t think that’s what he means. We need to find a way to find this guy and beat the system before he starts the next countdown,” I say with confidence. 

“There has to be some way to track him down. I’ve been doing some research and I might have some leads. Nine,” Jack says while turning his attention to the glasses faced teen, “Do you think you can help me with this?”

“Leave it to me,” Nine replies, pushing up his glasses farther on the bridge of his nose.

“Even if this Tokumei guy tries to get us to kill each other again, we won’t crack. We aren’t stupid. The same trick won’t work twice,” Twelve offers, with a scoff.

As soon as she finished her sentence, the deafening cry of the overhead speaker rang again.

“Good morning my precious children, ready for another game?” Tokumei booms through the room. The blood coursing through my body ran hot, yet I could feel a chill up my spine. The tension in the room could be cut with a knife. “I couldn’t help but overhear, Miss Twelve,” Tokumei announces cheekily, “But I’m not stupid either.”

“He was listening to us?” Five asks, almost below a whisper.

“Great, now you’ve pissed him off! Good one, my Queen,” spits Ace, sarcastically.

“Shut up, Ace! How was I supposed to know that he was spying on us?” Twelve shoots back in defense.

How has he heard our conversations? There must be some type of audio recorders around this place. I wonder if there are any hidden cameras, too. What would stop him from keeping tabs on everything we’ve been saying and doing. It makes sense that he’s always one step ahead of us. 

“He must have heard everything we’ve been saying this whole time. Even our plans,” I explain.

“That only means we have to be more careful in the future,” Jack says to us.

“Enough of your blabbering,” Tokumei yells over us. “I still need to announce your new motive.”

What could it possibly be this time? Whatever it is won’t work. We are stronger than this.

“Now I want you all to close your eyes,” Tokumei says, with a very serious tone of voice. We all looked at each other in confusion at his odd request. “I said close your eyes!” he yells in frustration. Startled, we all follow directions. “Now, I want you to imagine your best friend. The person here who is the closest to you.”

As my eyes shut tighter, I tried to think of an answer. I wouldn’t necessarily say that I have a best friend. I care about everyone equally, and I want to protect them all. I guess there are some that I would confide in more than others? Maybe Ace, or Jack, or even Seven. 

“It’s okay if you have more than one, just make sure you can visualize them,” Tokumei continues. “Now imagine the look on their face when they find out your deepest, darkest secret. The one thing that you would _kill_ for no one to ever find out.”

With this, I opened my eyes. It seems everyone else had the same idea. There’s no way Tokumei knows my secret, let alone everyone else’s. How long have these guys really been monitoring us?

“Bullshit,” Four exclaims. “You actually think we’d believe you?”

“Want to find out?” Tokumei tries with a hearty laugh through the speaker. “You want me to tell everyone right now that you have-”

“Shut up! I get it,” Four gives in with a sigh. He shoves his hands into his pockets. “I believe you.”

“I’m guessing that you all get the point,” Tokumei begins again, “If someone doesn’t die in the next two days, I will reveal all of your secrets to everyone here.”

“It’s just a few secrets you guys! How bad can it be?” Fourteen chimes in, with hope in her voice.

She looks around the room and to her disappointment, no one joins her in her optimism. Is it wrong to say that this motive is scaring me more than the last one? I am not feeling too good about this. Can we all hold it together long enough to figure out a way out of here?

“You have 48 hours. Time starts now,” Tokumei states before disconnecting from the speaker.

I check the time. It’s 10 o’clock exactly. Two days. This may be harder than I thought.

The next thing on our agenda was to do more research about our situation. I walked down the long hallway to the library where Jack and Nine were huddled in a corner around an old desktop computer. There were over a dozen open books sprawled across the desk and a tabletop lamp illuminating the small room. Jack was alternating between scribbling illegible characters, or circling important words within the pages, and resting the barrel of the pen between his teeth. Nine was hyper-focused on the computer screen, face almost too close for comfort, clicking away at the keys. I approached slowly, as to not disturb their concentration. 

“I know you’re there, Six,” Jack says in his low voice. “You have heavy footsteps.”

“Oh, sorry.” I reply, looking down at my shoes. “Have you made any progress?” 

“Quite a bit actually,” Jack starts. “It seems I was initially right about the Seiko company. I’ve been doing some reading about the history between Japan and the United States.”

“I remember, back when we were young, reading that we were at odds with each other. Do you think they are behind this sick game?” I inquire.

“Not just this game, but the bombings as well,” Jack replies, hesitantly.

My heart stops. They were responsible for the destruction of the world? But why?

Jack continues. “Tokyo and San Francisco were basically in a technological war. They were always trying to see who could come out with something even more bizarre. The Seiko company created the technology for these bracelets we have. That leads me to believe that they are at least involved with whoever is controlling this game.”

“So what does some technology have to do with bombing us?”

“It says here that Japan was in major debt with the US, but we were getting too impatient and threatened them,” Jack underlines a portion of one of his books. “But Japan struck first. That’s what caused the bombs.”

“I see," I say while scratching my head. "But what connects the Seiko company to us?”

“Here’s where Nine comes in,” Jack says while softly slapping Nine on the back to get his attention.

Startled, Nine glances away from the screen and acknowledges my presence with a proud grin.

“Ah, so I was able to hack into the mainframe for Seiko,” Nine begins. “It seems that they were involved in some kind of experiment.”

“An experiment? With who?” I question him.

“Us. The survivors of the bombings.”

“But there’s no way they could have gotten permission to do this to us. What about our families?”

“Maybe they were in on it too,” Jack pipes in. “It makes sense. They were dying. Seiko could have given them the assurance that they would take care of us.”

“That’s true,” confirms Nine. “There’s no way that our parents and those before them had any idea that we wouldn’t get sick too.” 

I think back to my fading memories of my parents. I can’t recall any image of their faces, but I can just barely feel my mother’s touch on my forehead. Subconsciously, I place my fingers there, as if to feel her one more time.

“Fine, but why hasn’t anyone come for us yet? If we are a whole bunch of teenagers being held captive, I’m sure the government would have heard about it by now,” I say.

“We think the government is in on it too,” replies Jack. “They’re scared of what Seiko is capable of.”

“Plus, I found something in the mainframe,” Nine adds. “I can’t make out too much because a lot of the system is blocked by some type of firewall. But Jack and I have started to decipher part of a code.”

“A code?” I ask, with a nervous voice.

“As far as I can tell, there were four ‘projects’ that have strange file names. I can’t access any of the files without passcodes," Nine replies. "However, I was able to get into one that I believe involves us.”

“What is the file called?” I ask, in a serious tone.

“AXEL.”

* * *


	7. Watch

* * *

“AXEL,” says Nine.

AXEL? What does that mean, or does it stand for something?

Nine proceeds to explain what he has found in the file. There are videos of all of us from when we were little. As Nine flipped through the videos, there was a similarity between all of them. We were sat, individually, in dark rooms with a single lamp on a black table. No one else could be seen in the shots, yet a deep voice could be heard from behind the camera, stating to us a series of conditions.

_“You will be free to live here with the others, but you will not be able to leave.”_

_“I understand.”_

_“You will adapt your studies to learn a basic survival curriculum, and you will choose to master one area of expertise.”_

_“I understand.”_

The smaller versions of ourselves blindly accepted these terms with no second thoughts. Nine flips the screen once more and I see myself pop onto the screen. I instantly recognize my odd haircut and my favorite jacket from my childhood. But why don’t I remember this conversation ever happening?

_“You will wear this bracelet, and never remove it,”_ said the man from behind the camera, as an assistant of some sort grabbed my wrist and attached the band. 

_“Why?”_ I asked.

_“You will not remember this conversation,”_ said the man, ignoring my question, as the assistant moved back out of the frame. _“Do you understand?”_

I sat onscreen silently for a few moments, my troubled look obvious on my face. I seemed to be the only one of us to question the reason for agreeing to those terms.

_“I understand,”_ I finally managed to mutter under my breath.

The video shuts off abruptly and Nine clicks back to the other documents in the file. 

“It seems they used some kind of memory erasing technology. Which doesn’t surprise me,” Jack says, unfazed. “But we all accepted these conditions, the same as our parents.”

“What else is in this AXEL file, Nine?” I ask.

“Um, seems to be the same basic information included in our E-Handbooks.”

I suddenly remember how I couldn’t access Thirteen’s file. This would be a great opportunity to ask about that.

“Hey, could either of you read anything about Thirteen in your E-Handbooks?” I inquire.

Nine pushes up the bridge of his glasses as he thinks, and Jack touches his chin with his finger. 

“I don’t think I’ve actually tried to look at it yet. How about you, Nine?” Jack replies.

“Now that I think about it, there was an error message on my screen. I guess I forgot to try again later.”

“I think we should take a look now, while we can,” I say to them.

Nine scrolls through the available files and finds Thirteen’s. He opens it, and to our surprise, an image of our leader and a similar profile to ours is revealed.

> Thirteen (King)-Face of Distrust: Thirteen is the leader of the group, always wary of deceit. _Bringing the test, the suffering and death._
> 
>   * Attributes:
> 

> 
> Personality: Headstrong, Impatient
> 
> Favorite color: Grey
> 
> Favorite food: None
> 
> Age: 18
> 
> Height: 6’0
> 
> Skills: Deduction, Piano
> 
> Special notes: ???

I feel a little better after being able to read his file, but the mentions of death and distrust are making me feel uneasy. And why are there question marks next to his notes section? I don’t want this information to cloud my judgement of Thirteen, since he’s always been a genuinely good guy. 

“So what do you think is in those other three files?” I ask Nine, curiously.

He thinks for a second. “This is purely out of speculation, but I think we might not be alone in this.”

“Wait, what do you mean?”

He shows me the unopened files on the screen. They read: ECHO, KYLO, and OPAL.

“These files must have similar content but with other groups of kids, like us.”

There’s other kids going through this too? 

“Why would they do this to us?” I blurt out, frustrated. “Aren’t we already a small percentage of the world with this immunity? Why are they trying to kill us?”

“Survival of the fittest,” Jack says under his breath. “This is just entertainment for them.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if this is being broadcasted somewhere,” Nine adds. “Especially with the amount of hidden cameras in our building.”

“Can I trust you to get a team together to find the location of all these cameras and disable them?” Jack questions me.

Me? I’m not very good with technology. But I never back down from a challenge.

“Sure thing,” I say with building confidence.

“Just one more thing,” Jack grabs my arm as I turn around to leave. “ _Don’t_ get caught.”

I think about the ticking time bombs strapped to our wrists that can go off at any inconvenience Tokumei finds. I nod my head.

I decide to put all of what I’ve learned today on the back burner and try to put more pieces together later. I thank Nine and Jack, and head back out into the hallway. 

As I walk through the halls towards the cafeteria for a late lunch, I bump into Seven, who seems to be just staring into space. I stand next to him, but he doesn’t seem to notice my presence. I wave my hand in front of his face, and there is still no response.

“Seven?” I call out to him, concerned.

He turns his head slightly and jumps after finally recognizing me.

“Oh, Six. You scared me!” he offers as he adjusts the old hat atop his head.

“Sorry about that,” I say with a chuckle. “What were you fantasizing about? Some new tools or something?”

Seven steps back with a serious gaze, eyes locked hard onto mine.

“Please, don’t joke around like that,” he says flatly.

“What’s wrong?” I ask, startled by his sudden graveness.

He looks at his bracelet, then back at me.

“Oh, I see. Laughing. It’s your forbidden action.” I answer my own question. “I’m sorry, I understand.” 

“Don’t worry about it,” Seven says with a smile. “Not very funny by the way,” he whispers while rolling his eyes.

“Shut up, I was trying to be nice,” I say while giving him a punch on the arm. “Were you heading to the cafeteria, too?”

“I was, actually. But I got distracted.”

“What happened?”

Seven didn’t seem like he wanted to talk about it. He still had a far off look in his eyes. We walked in silence for a few moments.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” I suggest, sympathetically.

“I trust you, Six. But I just don’t know if I can tell you this.”

“It's about your secret, isn’t it?”

Seven sighs and halts his steps. “If anyone finds out about this, I wouldn’t know how to live with myself.”

I pause too, choosing my next words carefully.

“I totally feel the same way. I feel like no one will view me the same way if they know what I’ve been hiding,” I say with sincerity. “I have worked so hard not to let anyone see what I have been dealing with.”

I think back to my first few years as a teenager. I was so young then, and I didn’t know what I was doing to my body. I had a leg injury from a training session that I needed pain medication for. But I became dependent on the meds and developed a serious addiction to the pills. It lasted until I was fifteen. But I never told anyone. I went through it all alone: the addiction itself, the withdrawals, the rehab. It’s hard when you want everyone to have this ‘perfect’ image of yourself, but you’ve been lying to the people you care about for years.

“Let’s work hard these next two days,” Seven offers with hope in his eyes. “Maybe we can overcome this together.”

Doing my best to hide my doubt, I nod my head, and we continue walking quietly towards the cafeteria.

* * *


	8. Mood

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year

* * *

Upon entering the cafeteria, I notice Three sitting alone with a half-eaten apple in her hand. 

“Hey,” I greet her. “How are you feeling?”

Seven and I grab seats on either side of her.

“I’m actually doing okay,” she admits, with a small sigh. “I’m obviously ashamed of my secret, but I wouldn’t kill someone over it.”

“You’re okay if we find out?” Seven asks her.

She closes her eyes, and takes a deep breath.

“I’m a compulsive liar,” she says while opening her eyes. She looks back and forth between Seven and I, waiting for a reaction. “I don’t know why, but I always find a way to twist the truth, even when I don’t want to.”

“What kinds of things do you lie about?” I ask her.

“It’s so stupid,” she begins, with another sigh. “I lie about my opinions, my emotions, my entire personality-” Her voice trails off.

She places her hands over her face and turns away from us. 

“Long story short, I’m just being dramatic 24/7,” she sums it up with a chuckle.

I place my hand on her shoulder and offer some support, “I can’t imagine what you’re going through, but if it helps, you never have to be someone you’re not in front of us.”

“We’re family,” Seven adds.

A tear runs down Three’s face. She wipes it with the back of her hand and nods her head in confirmation.

“Thank you for telling us though,” I say. In an attempt to lighten the mood, I decide to bring up the task entrusted to me by Jack. “Now, I know I can trust you both with something important.”

“Of course, what is it?” Seven inquires.

“I need you both to help me try to remove all the cameras hidden in this building,” I whisper to them, as I lean in closer. “Jack, Nine, and I have a feeling that whoever is behind this won’t be able to stop us from rebelling if they can’t see or hear us. This is the first step that we came up with.”

“What if we get caught?” Three asks, noticeably scared of the outcome.

“We won’t,” I assure her. “But if we do,” I look at my bracelet and back at them.

“I get it,” Seven states. “So what’s the plan?”

“First, we need to locate all the cameras. Maybe we should split up and scout sections of the bunker,” I begin. 

“There’s the common room, here in the kitchen, the library, and our rooms,” Seven explains.

“I can check out the library and the common room,” Three volunteers. 

“Okay, I’ll take the kitchen and maybe search the hallways too, just in case,” Seven announces.

“And I’ll look through everyone’s rooms,” I say, acknowledging the repercussions of snooping around everyone’s stuff. This might not end well.

“And how exactly would we get rid of these cameras?” Three asks.

“Good question,” Seven responds. “To deactivate them, we’d have to not be seen and somehow take out the memory chip.”

“I read somewhere that the best way to disable a security camera is to use a flashlight,” I explain. Seven and Three both have puzzled looks on their faces. “We have to act at night,” I continue. “A powerful flash into the lens will blind the camera, then we can take out the card.”

“Oh, then we can just put it back, like nothing happened?” Three asks, finally understanding the objective.

“Exactly,” I validate.

“Sounds like a plan,” Seven says, with a nod of his head.

“Let’s search for now, then meet up tonight to grab flashlights before we start,” I tell them. “I guess you guys can come to my room.”

Three nods, then leaves the cafeteria. Seven and I grab lunch and eat together in the meantime. 

I check my watch for the time. It’s a little after three o’clock. 

“I should probably start checking the rooms now, before it gets dark.”

“Alright, I’ll see you tonight.”

I head out of the cafeteria and decide who’s room I should search first. I start with the closest one. Ace.

His room looks unsurprisingly messy for his personality. Several items of clothing are sprawled out on the floor, and it looks like he has enjoyed a few meals here as well. Without wanting to disturb the atmosphere, I begin my search along the walls. I look at items that might be easy to hide a camera, like a clock or lights. I search underneath his desk to no avail. I check underneath his bed and find nothing particularly interesting. 

I decide to search for a camera in his small bookcase. There aren’t many books in it, besides a few textbooks, a few manga, and what looks like a journal. I open the books and check the spine one by one. There aren’t any cameras here either. I reach to pick up his journal and turn it over in my hands. The leather cover is quite worn, indicating frequent use. He must have used this journal since he was a little kid. I start to open the cover when I hear the sound of a knob turning. Startled, I turn towards the door and freeze in place, holding my squatting position in front of his bookcase.

“What the hell are you doing?” Ace asks, mood instantly changing from a resting face to a hard frown. 

He stalks towards me and snatches his journal out of my open hands, fanning through the pages quickly, as if to check for any damage.

“Uh,” I start, but no words follow.

“Did you read this?” he asks, inching closer.

I take a step back, but fail to increase the distance between us, as I bump into his bookcase.

“I was just looking for hidden cameras,” I explain, trying to keep my voice stable. “I was just checking the bookcase.”

His face softens and he takes a step backward. 

“Oh, sorry,” he apologizes. “Continue then. I don’t want those bastards watching me undress.”

I nod and turn back towards the bookcase. Why did he get so aggressive all of the sudden? 

As if reading my mind, Ace utters, “You wanted to find out my secret, didn’t you?”

I turn my head slightly, “No, of course not! I really was just looking for cameras.”

I scan the edges of the bookcase, taking in the craftwork. He doesn’t speak for a few seconds, as if deliberating what to say next.

“You don’t have to lie to me, you know. I’d want to know my secret too,” he says quietly.

I notice the screws all look the same, except for the one in the very center, dividing the two sections of the shelf. I lean in closer and very faintly see my reflection in the top screw. 

“I found one,” I say, almost excitedly, to Ace. “Quick, turn out the lights!”

“Uh, okay?” he says as he walks over to the light switch and flicks it downwards.

In the dark, I reach for the flashlight I saw on his desk and flash the camera. 

“Okay, turn the lights back on.”

Ace flips the switch on and I pull the camera out of the bookcase. Although it is tiny, I manage to remove the memory card and place it back in its spot.

“Alright, that’s all,” I exclaim, as I turn to head out his door, mentally taking note of his reluctance to let me open his journal. “Oh, and I'm going to have to borrow this," I say while waving his flashlight around in the air. "I’ll see you later, Ace.”

“Yeah, see you,” he says, almost confused by my attitude.

Ace isn’t stupid, he probably won’t leave his journal out in the open again. I close the door behind me and head to the next few rooms. I didn’t find anything suspicious in Three and Four’s rooms, but thankfully I didn’t have an awkward encounter with them as I did with Ace. However, I notice that Five’s room is locked. I figure that Five wouldn’t mind if I knocked on his door, since he’s typically very open. 

Within a few short moments, I am uncharacteristically greeted by a distraught looking Five, without his signature red beanie, and a head of disheveled hair.

“Hey, are you okay?” I ask, concerned for the younger boy.

“Y-yeah I’m fine,” he replies, without making eye contact. He’s lying.

“You don’t look so good,” I admit. “Have you eaten lunch yet?”

“I’m not hungry,” he says as he tries to push the door closed.

I forcefully stop the door with the palm of my hand.

“Five, I can go with you if you want,” I offer. “I can make you something-”

“I said I’m fine!” he shouts at me, as he pushes the door closed completely.

I stand in awe at his sudden outburst. Something must be wrong, he’s not the type to act stubborn like this. I figure I can just come back later when he is less irritable. Reluctantly, I turn to head towards my own room to search for cameras, when I hear a loud thud from beyond the closed door.

“Five?” I yell out.

* * *


	9. Listen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is much longer than usual, I apologize. So much is happening at once.
> 
> Trigger Warning: Implied/Mentioned self-harm

* * *

“Five?” I yell out. 

I push open his door, relieved to find that it is unlocked, and find an unconscious Five collapsed on the floor in front of me. I get down on my knees and try to shake him awake, to no avail. Is he sick? Did he have an asthma attack? He must have collapsed from exhaustion. A million thoughts ran through my mind every second. I quickly look around his room. This isn’t my first time in Five’s room, but it looks different from before. Everything is unkept and his bed is unmade. I open his fanny pack and grab his inhaler from it, but I realize it won’t help if he’s not awake. Maybe he’s not having an asthma attack. 

I put the back of my hand on his forehead to check for a fever. He is extremely warm and excessively sweating through his jacket. I should probably find him a new change of clothes and get him into bed to rest.

I find something dry for him to put on and unzip his jacket. I instantly realized how thin his frame is. Five always had larger clothes on, so I never noticed how skinny he is. There’s no way he’s eating properly. After some thought, I realize what is going on with him. He has an eating disorder.

After I get him settled into bed, I decide to get something for him from the cafeteria. My mission can wait. I settle on a nice broth and some mashed potatoes. I ask Jo to prepare it for me, and I can tell she was confused since I had been in the cafeteria only a few hours earlier. But she doesn’t ask any questions. Five’s secret is not mine to tell.

I make it back to Five’s room and start to tidy up while he rests. I was able to check for cameras in the meantime, not finding any, then sat beside him until he woke up.

“Five, are you doing better?” I ask him, once he opens his eyes and starts to sit up.

“W-what happened?” he asks, placing his hand on his forehead, showing obvious signs of a headache.

“You collapsed,” I say nicely, not wanting to be too overwhelming for him. “I brought you a little something from the cafeteria.”

“No, I’m fine-” Five starts.

“Five,” I cut him off. “I _know_.”

He looks down at his palms and clenches his fists, weakly. He looks up to me with tears in his eyes. It hurts me to see Five in so much pain. He’s like my own little brother.

“Eat,” I say softly. “I have some things to do, but I trust you,” I say as I get up to leave.

He stays silent, but hesitates before stopping me.

“Six,” he begs, “ _Please_.”

“I won’t tell anyone, I promise.”

He gives me a small smile and I close the door behind me as I leave.

I check my watch. It reads 5:30pm. I don’t have much time before I need to meet with Seven and Three, and I still haven’t checked all the rooms. It’s a good thing that I can skip the rooms of everyone who has been killed, since no one is currently occupying them. It's not much, but it can save me a little time. I rush down the hall to my own room next.

In contrast to Ace and Five, my room is exactly as I left it, organized and clean. It makes me feel better to have at least one thing in my control. 

I search around in the same places that hidden cameras could be, even my own bookcase. I didn’t seem to see any so I looked harder in places that might not be as obvious, like the odd amount of canvases hanging on my wall. I don’t even remember personally putting these up. I glare at the painting of a bald eagle hanging directly above my bed. I vaguely remember having an obsession with birds when I was younger. I had felt like they were so _free_ , to go wherever they wanted in the world. Flight was such an unattainable goal for a child, but it was calming to dream about. Thinking back on it, it’s pretty ironic, considering our current situation.

Sure enough, there was a tiny camera in the eye of the eagle, staring at me, as it takes flight. I turn out the lights and flash my flashlight to disable the camera. I use my pocket knife, which I found on a previous trip to the zone, to carefully cut out of the canvas. I easily remove the memory card and replace the camera.

Why would they only put cameras in a select few of our rooms? Is it randomized? 

I leave my door unlocked in case Three or Seven make it back to my room first, then I head to the next few rooms. Seven, Nine, and Jack are all also clear from having any cameras, as far as I can tell.

I walk over to Twelve’s room next and find that her door is also locked. I knock gently, then once again a little harder when I am awaited with no response. Maybe she isn’t in her room right now. I guess she could be with Thirteen doing some kind of royalty duties. I walk past her room and try Thirteen’s next.

I'm the most nervous to enter his room, purely because I don’t know what he would do if he caught me snooping around his stuff. I can barely bring myself to take another step towards the closed door. With the hopes that he is also away with Twelve, I take a deep breath and inch my hand towards the handle.

The handle turns with ease, and I push the door open slowly. It is dark in Thirteen’s room. We don’t have any windows in this bunker, but there was an unmistakable heavy aura just from being in it. I run my hand along the wall by the door and hit the light switch. 

Immediately, my attention is drawn to his beautifully stained mahogany acoustic guitar hanging from his far wall. I take in the rest of my surroundings. His room is very simple, without much wall decor, and very neat. It seems that it’ll be fairly easy to find cameras here, if there are any.

I start to take a lap around Thirteen’s room and stop to look at any suspicious items. Nothing sticks out to me, besides his plain digital clock on his bedside table and the lamp on his desk. Taking back my initial claim about the unchallenging difficulty of this mission, I realize that there really aren’t many items to even look at. 

I run my fingers along his desk and examine the knobs of the drawers. No cameras are apparent from my line of sight. I twist and pull on the knobs gently to see if any camera parts will come loose, with no success. I crouch down to the bottom drawer to test its knob when I notice the drawer was slightly open. I subconsciously find myself slowly opening the drawer and staring at its contents, likely driven by our leader’s quiet, and almost mysterious, mannerisms.

There are several charging cords, some extra guitar picks, and some small snacks stolen from the pantry, nothing out of the ordinary. This must be his miscellaneous drawer. I notice a notebook, spine-side down, shoved in the corner. Not taking any chances, after my encounter with Ace, I decide not to go through anyone else’s journals. However, a large folded slip of paper stuck out like a sore thumb from behind the book. It looked to be in questionable shape, as the ends were tattered and the paper had some kind of stain. Could this note be from the organization keeping us here? No, it couldn’t be. Why would Thirteen keep that from us? I start to close the drawer to resume my search, when my other hand reaches inside and snatches the piece of paper from the drawer. The drawer closes behind me, and I panic. I try to open it again, but it seems to have locked itself. 

Shit.

Stuck with the paper in my hand, I figure it wouldn’t hurt to check it out. I turn the folded paper over in my hands and see that the note was specifically addressed to Thirteen. I open it and discover a short note written inside. There is no date, but from the ink, it looks rather recent. Not all of it has completely dried, and some of it bled onto the other side of the page while it was folded. It also doesn’t have the name of the writer. The note reads:

> Hey, I need to talk to you about Twelve. I don’t know who else to tell. It’s really important. Meet me tonight at 8, you know where.

Is Twelve in trouble? I check my watch. It’s 7:30. Damn it. I want to know what’s going on, but I still have my own duties to take care of. I still have to search Jo’s room and meet up with Three and Seven. I guess there’s no way I would know the location anyway. 

But what is so important that they had to meet in secret? Does Thirteen always do things in secret like this? What else is he hiding? And who is this note from? This is going to bother me all night.

I close the note and decide I should at least leave it here. It would be worse if I take it with me. I open up a different desk drawer and leave the note in the same spot that I found it. Hopefully, he isn’t observant enough to notice, or he will think that he just misplaced it himself. But knowing Thirteen, that probably won’t be the case.

After doing a full search of his room, I still couldn’t find any cameras. There must be something that I am missing. The camera spots must be significant somehow. Ace’s was in the almost empty bookshelf, and mine was in the eye of the eagle. 

“Ah,” I sigh. The guitar. 

I walk to the hanging guitar, pry it off the wall, and give it a good once over. Nothing really sticks out to me. But as I reach up to mount it back onto the wall, the disappointment leaves my face. The guitar mount has a hidden camera directly in the center! I can’t believe I almost missed it. I quickly disable the camera and leave Thirteen’s room. I can only hope things go smoothly about the note, but other than that, I think this search was pretty successful.

Jo’s room is next. I knock on her door and she answers it with a cheery grin. 

“Hey, Six!” she exclaims. 

“Hey, how are you doing?” I reply with a smile of my own.

“I’m doing better,” she says with as much confidence as she can muster. “Did you need something?” 

“Is it okay if I check your room out for a little?” I ask. “We are trying to get rid of any cameras that might be hidden here.” 

“Sure, I guess,” she says, with slight confusion. “But why are you looking in _my_ room?” she adds, almost defensively.

“Oh, don’t worry,” I assure her. I understand her uneasiness, especially after being a main suspect in the last trial. “I’ve checked everyone else’s room already.”

She releases a sigh of relief. “Good to know,” she says under her breath.

I look around her room in similar spots, but it is more difficult to find cameras due to her unhealthy amount of stuffed animals crowding the room. I constantly move them out of the way to look, but it’s very distracting in my search.

“I’m really not sure if there’s gonna be any cameras in here, Six.”

I look at her, “It doesn’t hurt to check.”

After almost five minutes of unsuccessful searching, I grow frustrated. Jo seems to notice this and comes to my aid.

“Well, what kind of places are these cameras in?” she asks, calmly.

“I thought they would be in common items, like clocks or other electronics, but they tended to actually be in items with some significance to us.”

She thinks for a second, considering my explanation.

“Well, my stuffed animals are really important to me,” she explains picking one up and smiling at it. 

Of course! That’s a brilliant idea for a hidden camera. It’s basically hidden in plain sight. But there’s no way I’ll be able to look through all of them in time. 

“Is there any stuffed animal that’s the most special to you? Any more than the others?”

“Well,” she starts. She walks over to an old stuffed rabbit with a torn ear sitting on her bed. It's definitely been through some trauma. She picks it up gently and stares at it. “This one. It was the first stuffed animal I ever got. Apparently, it was from my mom when I was a baby.”

She hands it to me, almost refusing to let go. I instantly notice that the left eye of the rabbit was a camera lens in the shape of an eye. I ask her to turn out the lights, and I disable the camera. Once I finish removing the memory card, I hand the bunny back to her. 

“Thank you so much, Jo. You were a big help,” I say, as I start to rush out the door.

“Oh, sure thing!” she yells out while I shut the door behind me.

I check my watch once more. 8:02pm. I’m late. I run to my room and find Three and Seven already waiting inside.

“Hey guys, sorry I’m late,” I say apologetically. 

“No worries,” Three responds, indifferently. 

“You ready to go?” Seven asks. “I got the flashlights already from your closet.”

“Perfect, let’s head out,” I say with a deep breath.

We leave my room and start down the hallway towards the common room first.

“Did you find any in our rooms?” Three asks.

“Not in everyone’s room, but I found them in my own, Ace’s, Thirteen’s, and Jo’s as well. But I didn’t check the rooms of everyone who died, so there still might be some there.”

“That’s kinda weird that only a few of us had hidden cameras. And actually really creepy,” Three says, with unwavering honesty. I can tell she’s working on her condition.

“I agree, but I don’t really have an answer for it yet,” I admit.

We get to the common room and Three shows us where the cameras were hidden. We quickly disable them and do the same to the library. Then we walk over to the kitchen and repeat the same process, with Seven showing us the location of the hidden cameras. By the time we finished our mission, it was after 9 o’clock. 

“Alright, good work guys,” I say cheerfully to my team.

“Thanks,” Three says, adjusting the curls that fell loose from her ponytail and into her face by swiping them behind her ears. “I’m literally exhausted.”

“Do you think we should tell everyone about it tomorrow?” Seven asks.

“I’ll take care of it,” I answer. “I’ll tell Thirteen to make an announcement in the morning. But I want to check in with Jack first, I’ll probably do that tonight after I shower.”

“Sounds good. Goodnight!” Three says before heading off to her room. 

Seven and I walk towards our rooms together.

“Alright. See you tomorrow, Six,” Seven says as he turns to walk away.

I open my door and put away the flashlights in my closet. I take a mental note of the flashlight that I have to return to Ace. I grab a change of clothes and my towel, and I head to the bathroom on the side closest to my room.

The door is locked to the bathroom and I knock. 

“Oh, I’m in here,” a voice says quietly from the other side of the bathroom door. It sounds like the voice of one of the girls.

“Sorry about that,” I say, “I’ll just go to the other bathroom.”

“Oh, I’m almost done,” the voice says solemnly. I hear a shuffling of feet, and the sound of a lock turning. 

To my surprise, a very uncharacteristically mellow Twelve stands before me, with dried mascara streaking down her cheeks. I immediately remember the note that I found in Thirteen’s room.

“Twelve, are you okay?” I ask out of concern.

“Shut up, loser,” she snaps back, but with less ferocity than usual. “I’m fine, thanks.”

“Are you sure you don’t want to talk about anything?” I press.

“Trust me. If I wanted to talk to you, I would have. Bye,” she says as she slams the door in my face and locks it again. 

I must have pissed her off enough to change her mood from melancholy to sour within seconds. I guess I have to go to the other bathroom after all.

I head down the hall in the opposite direction and open the door to the other bathroom. It’s unlocked, but once again I am faced with another one of my friends, who of which seems to be in a dilemma of some sort. 

Four is caught pacing back and forth in front of the mirror, with his hands in his sweatpants pockets. 

“Uh, Four. Are you okay?”

“Shit,” he jumps at the sound of my voice. “I should’ve locked the door,” he says under his breath.

“What’s wrong?” I ask curiously.

He looks down to the ground and hesitates before responding with a question of his own.

“How are you handling this whole secret thing?” he asks, with a serious face.

“I’m not sure,” I say, honestly. “I try not to let it get to me, and just focus on something else, like getting out of here.”

“Yeah, that makes sense,” he answers. 

In the silence that follows, he doesn’t make any attempt to leave the bathroom. I guess he failed to notice the shower gear I’ve brought with me and doesn’t think I have better things to do than stand around. Or, he just really is having a hard time with this. I assume the latter and decide to cheer him up.

“Don’t let your secret control you,” I try to give him some advice. “You just have to believe that none of us will view you any differently.”

He furrows his brows and considers my suggestion carefully. As his face starts to soften, I can sense his typical relaxation returning.

“Thanks, Six,” Four says, as he finally starts to take in my appearance. “Oh, sorry I’ll let you shower now.” 

“No worries,” I say with a slight smile. “Glad to help.”

He leaves the bathroom and I am able to shower in peace. As I let the hot water hit my back, I think about all the progress we have made today, as a team. We learned a lot more about the Seiko company and this _project_ that we are a part of. We got rid of all the cameras, so they can’t monitor us anymore. We actually might be able to get out of here soon. All I have to do tomorrow is to tell the rest of us about our headway. 

I head back to my room and realize how exhausted I actually am. I get into bed and decide to just talk to Jack in the morning. After feeling so optimistic during my shower, I thought it would be easy to drift off to sleep. But the looming threat of Tokumei’s time constraint runs a shiver down my spine, despite the heat from the shower keeping my body temperature warm. I check my watch one last time. It’s 10 o’clock. We only have 36 hours left before something drastic will happen. I don’t even want to think about it. After exhausting my brain enough with my intrusive thoughts, I finally fall asleep.

I wake up in the morning to my 9 o’clock alarm. I decide to head to Jack’s room first to tell him that we completed his mission. After getting dressed, I head down the hall and knock on his door. 

“Come in,” Jack says, tone even.

I open the door and see him standing in the center of his room, with his arms folded across his chest. His placement in the room and his body language was so strange, that I had to laugh.

“Uh, what are you doing?” I ask him with an inescapable grin.

“I’m listening,” he says, cooly.

I look around his room. “Listening for what?”

He walks towards the wall on his left and places his ear against it. I watch him, confused. Noticing my blank stare, he beckons me over to listen as well. I follow his command and place my ear on the wall next to him.

“I don’t hear anything,” I say, with an obvious look of confusion on my face.

“Exactly,” he says.

Still not understanding, I back away from the wall.

“Is something wrong with silence?” I ask him. “It’s still pretty early.”

“Not for him,” Jack says, with a dubious look on his face.

“What do you mean?” I ask, growing concerned with Jack’s ambiguity. No one should be in the room next door, since it used to be Ten's.

“His alarm always goes off at 9:00 in the morning, every morning, without fail,” Jack begins. “The walls aren’t thin or anything, I just have really sensitive ears, so it would annoy the shit out of me.” I understand now.

“And his alarm didn’t go off today?” 

“No.”

We give each other a look that we both recognized. A look of fear, anxiety, and hesitation. We both run out of Jack’s room and head two doors down. It’s too soon.

I hover my hand over the knob and take a deep breath. Nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to see.

* * *


End file.
